Loading and unloading device



June 27, 1950 E. J. ADAMS LOADING AND UNLOADING DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 11, 1947 BY W%m,/

June 27, 1950 E. J. ADAMS LOADING AND UNLOADING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 11, 1947 JNVEN TOR. $404M? m/ze/WJ June 27, 1950 E. J. ADAMS v LOADING AND UNLOADING DEVICE ,5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed March 11, 1947 I ,INVEN OR. fl/ BY I v I v Jerry/9414741 Patented June 27, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LOADING AND UNLOADIN G DEVICE 7 Eli J. Adams, Rogersville, Mo. I 7 Application March 11, 1947, Serial No. 733,934 (01. 212-65) 4 Claims.

This invention relates to devices for loading milk cans and the like onto vehicles, and for unloading them.

An object of the invention is toprovide a device whereby articles such as milk cans and the like may be loaded onto vehicles and unloaded therefrom under the controlof the vehicle operator.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device which may be installed on a truck or other vehicle having a source of power, said device including a lifting crane which is actuated by means of a hydraulic cylinder driven by a hydraulic pump, whereby articles engaged by the lifting cable of the crane may be liftedup into the truck, and may also be unloaded from the truck in similar fashion.

A further object of the invention is to provide an article loading device for installation upon a truck or other vehicle having doors on both sides, the device including a hydraulically actuated lifting crane having a lifting cable with lifting hooks at each end, one for each truck door, and being so constructed and arranged that upon opening of one door, the crane for that door swings out automatically for lifting articles into the truck.

Still another object of the invention is to' provide a truck loading and unloading device which is simple in design, relatively inexpensive to manufacture, which may be installed in most types of trucks engaged in the transportation of articles, and which is eflicient in handling such articles without substantial physical effort on the part of the operator other than control of the operation.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of a. preferred embodiment thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and. in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a truck in which my improved material handling device is installed, the door of the truck being shown open and the device in operationfi FigureZ is a-bottom plan View of' the truck shown in Figure 1,=as it would be seen looking upwards from beneath the-truck.

Figure 3 is a partlysectioned side elevational view of the piston and control valve mechanism of the device. I I

Figure 4 is a transverse'sectional elevation of the control valve 'as takerionline 4-4 of Figure 3,and 1 Figure 5 is a view-similar tothat 'of Figure 4,

5-5 of Figure 3. v;

In the operation ,of trucks, such :asmilk can 2 collecting trucks, where a large number of relatively heavy individual milk cans or other articles must be lifted from the ground up and into the truck body, and must likewise be unloaded, it is uneconomical to handle the task of loading and unloading by muscular power of the operator alone. This is apparent when it is considered that each full milk can weighs about one hundred pounds and may have'to be lifted a vertical distance of several feet into the truck body, many such trucks having. a capacity of one hundred such cans.

The present invention proposes a solution to this problem, making it unnecessary for the operator of the truck to manually lift the cans into and out of the truck. In order to understand clearly the nature of the invention and the best means for carrying it out, reference may now be had to the drawings, in which like numerals denote similar parts throughout the several views.

As shown, there is a truck having an operators cab llland a truck body I2, both mounted on the truck chassis 14 the rearward end of which is supported upon rear wheels l6 rotatably. carried on and driven by the rear axle [8.

member 30. Doors 32 and 34 are hinged at 36' to one vertical'edge of doorways formed in the side walls of the truck body 'as' shown, the doors being lockable by means of spring locks 38 adapted for engaging the opposite edges of their doorways.

Just inside each door of the truck body, I prefer to install vertical crane supports comprising hollow tubular posts 40 which may have their upper and lower ends engaged in suitable sockets secured to the floor and ceiling of the truck body respectively. Each of the floor sockets will preferably have an axial aperture formed therein in continuation of the post bores, and should he mounted over a matching aperture formed in the floorlitself, to allow free passage therethrough of a lifting cable 42 extending therethrough as will be further explained below.

Each crane support post 43 has a collar rotatably encircling its upper end portion, as :best shown in Figure 1, the collar 44 being prevented fromldownward movement by any suitable means such as a' stop collar also encircling the post 43 just below the rotatable collar 44, the stop collar being secured'to the post 4!! by means of a pin or other fastening member. The collar 44 is integral with a crane arm 46 extending radially therefr0m, the crane arm carrying two rotatable sheaves or pulleys '48 overwhichthe lifting cable The truck' body has a floor 20, front and rear walls 22 and- 24, left and right side walls 26 and 28, and, a top.

42 extends as it emerges from the upper end portion of the hollow support post 40.

A hook 50 is secured to the lower end 52 of the lifting cable by means of an eye 54. The hook shown is particularly designed for lifting milk cans 56 and has an arched body the lower end 58 of which is adapted to bear against the can body to steady it while the hooked arm 60 en-, gages under the handle 62 of the milk can. The lifting hook 50 is provided with a handle 64 which may be grasped by the operator during manipulation of the hook and the can.

The ng cable 42 extends downward through the bore of the tube 40, and through th fl it and the floor socket, and thence extends over a truck floor 20, as best shown in Figure 2. The

cable continues as shown in the view, extending around a pulley 12 which is rotatable about a shaft I4 fixed to the underside of the truck body. The cable is then extended around. another pulley 18 which. is rotatable on a pin 80 extending vertically through the bifurcatedlend 82 of a longitudinally movable piston shaft 84. The piston shaft 84 extends slidably through a gland packing and nut 86 into a cylinder chamber 88 of the hydraulic cylinder housing 90, which is secured to the underside of the truck body :by means of brackets 92 and 94. i A piston 96 is secured on the inner end of the shaft 84 by means of a nut 98, the piston being slidable back and forth inside the cylinder under the influence of hydraulic'fiuid which may be admitted thereto at either end through ports I00 and I02. It will be seen that admission of hydraulic fluid through port I00 will force the pis ton 96 to the. right as seen inFigure 3, the resultant outward movement of the piston shaft 84 and its pulley 18, will produce a tension on the cable 42 in the direction of. the arrows I04, elevating the hook 50. and .itsattached milk-can 56 off the ground, so the boom 46 may then be swung inwards about its post to deposit the milk can inside the truck body onto the floor 20, or the upper deck I06.

Figure 2 shows two side doors on the truck body, each having its own crane support post 40 and crane boom arm 46, there being only one continuous lifting cable 42 the outer end 52 of which have individual lifting hooks 50. A coil spring I08 encircles each support post 40 as shown in Figure 1, and has its lower end engaged in an aperture formed in the support post while its upper end is engaged in an aperture formed in the crane boom arm 46. The spring I08 is so arranged that it normally biases the boom 46 outwardly to the positions .shown in Figure 2, closing of the doors 32 retracting the booms inside the truck body and stressing the spring,'so that when the door is opened the boom arm automatically swings outward, into loading position. When the loading is completed, the'piston shaft 84 is extended to the position shown in'Figure 2, drawing the lifting cable and its hook upwards to a position on the same level with one of the cable securing hooks I I0 carried on the inside of each door 32, so that as the door is closed, the adjacent hook H0 may be engaged with the eye 54 on the end of the cable and prevent further upward movement of the cable. It will be seen that this arrangement, securing the cable end against movement when the door is closed,'permits the single lengthof traverse of the piston" rod 84 to double the travel of the lifting hook 4 50 on the open door side of the truck, whereas if both doors were open, with cans being lifted on both sides of the truck at the same time, the cans would be elevated by a distance equal only to the length of the piston rod traverse.

As shown in Figure 3, there is a, bypass port H2 located near each main cylinder port, the bypass port being connected to the main port by means of a bypass conduit H4 having a bypass check valve H6 interposed therein. The parts are so constructedand arranged that when the piston is approaching the port I 00, for example, and the operator has not stopped the inflow of oil into the cylinder, no damage will be caused and the piston will stop its movement to the left as soon as it passes the bypass port H2, v gettingbetween the ports I00 and H2. point, the bypass check valve H6 operates to al- At this low-thehydraulic fluid from the right side of the piston to flow throughlthe bypass conduit H4, into the port I.00,.equalizing thepressure on both sides of the piston and stopping the piston travel. The same thing happens when the piston is \mov-, ing to the right toward port I02.

A control valve H8 is secured to the bracket 92 by means of hangermember I20, and has a fixed valve member I22 disposed inside the valve housing on the left as seen in Figure 3. A rotatable valve member or rotor l24in the form of a relatively thick disk, is. held against longitudinal movement by the abutting shoulder I26 on the valve housing cover member I28, a valve shaft I30 being integral'with the rotor I24 and extending out of the valve housing through a gland packing and nut I 32. v v

A crank arm I34 is splined to the outer end of the valve shaft I30 whereby the shaft may be turned. about its axis, theouter end of the crank arm' being pinned to, the. inner end of a pushpull rod I36 which inturn is pinned at I38 to a valve handle I40, carried on a bracket MI. The parts'areso arranged that. a pull on the handle I40wil1 turn the valve shaft I 30 in one direction .to admit oil under pressure into the cylinder through port I00 to move the piston shaft to the right, elevating thecan hook 50; and pushing the handle I40 in the other direction willturn andthe valve shaft I30 in the opposite direction to move the piston shaft to the left, lowering the can hook '50. a a. a

The rotor I24 is provided with a throughopening I42 and a relatively shallow arcuate groove I44, as bestseen in Figures 3-.and 4. The stator I22 is provided with a discharge opening I46 leading to the dischargeport I48, a bypass port I50 interconnected .withthe discharge opening I46 as shown in Figure- 3, and two ports I52 and I54 which are connected to oil conduits I56 and I58 respectively, which lead to cylinder ports I00 and I02. Oil froma pump I61 and operated by the vehiclev motor, enters the annular chamber I60 through inlet'pipe I62, =and, if the valveshaft I30 isin the neutral position with ports I42 and I50 in registry, the oilemerely circulates through the valvehousing and vback to the pump The oil returns through'ipipe' l58, and port I54 from which it flows through groove I44 and port- I46 into return'pipe 148, When' -the' valve shaft I30 is turned to bring port I42 into registry with port I54, the incoming oil flows through pipe I58 to the cylinder, pushing the piston to the left, the oil returning through pipe I56, ports I52 and groove I44, into port I46 and return pipe I48.

The valve actuating handle I40 may conveniently be mounted just forwardly of the door 32 as to be accessible to the operator whether he be standing on the ground alongside the truck to load the cans, or inside the truck to unload them. Each door may be provided with such a handle I40 and associated connecting levers so as to actuate the valve control shaft I30.

Although I have described a preferred embodiment of my invention in specific terms, it is to be understood that various changes may be made in size, shape, materials and arrangement without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Iclaim:

1. An article lifting device adapted for being installed in a truck, comprising a pair of upright hollow tubular posts secured on opposite sides of the truck, crane boom arms rotatably engaging said posts near their upper ends, resilient means normally biasing said boom arms into positions extending outward from the truck body, a hydraulic cylinder, a piston movable in said cylinder under the influence of hydraulic fluid admitted into the cylinder, a piston shaft extending into said cylinder and engaging said piston whereby the piston shaft is reciprocally movable with the said piston, a first pulley rotatably carried on the outer end of said piston shaft, a lifting cable extending around the said first pulley, a pair of second pulleys on each side of said first pulley and carried rotatably on relatively stationary pins on said truck body, said lifting cable extending on each side of said first pulley and around said second pulleys, said cable thence extending in opposite directions from said second pulleys to and upwards through said hollow tubular posts, third pulleys rotatably carried on said boom arms, said cable extending upwards out of said tubular posts and over said third pulleys and thence downward, article engaging hooks carried on the outer ends of said lifting cable for engaging any article to be lifted, whereby upon movement of said hydraulic piston shaft in one direction said lifting cable is stressed to elevate the said article engaging hooks and the articles engaged thereby, and upon movement of said piston shaft in the opposite direction said lifting cable and hooks are lowered to initial positions.

2. An :article lifting device adapted for being installed in a truck body, comprising a pair of upright hollow tubular posts secured on opposite sides of the truck floor inside the truck side doors, crane boom arms rotatably carried by said posts near their upper ends, first pulleys on said boom arms, resilient means normally biasing said boom arms into positions extending outward from the truck body, a hydraulic cylinder on said truck, a piston movable in said cylinder under the influence of hydraulic fluid admitted into the cylinder, a piston shaft extending into said cylinder and engaging said piston whereb the piston shaft is reciprocally movable with said piston, a second pulley rotatably carried on the outer end of the piston shaft, :a lifting cable having :an intermediate portion thereof extending around said second pulley and across the path of said piston shaft, said cable extending thence in 0D- posite directions through said opposite hollow tubular posts and upwards over the said first pulleys and thence downwards, lifting hooks secured to the outer ends of said lifting cable, port and conduit means connected to said cylinder for conducting hydraulic fluid under pressure into and out of said cylinder to move th piston, an oil pump for circulating oil to said cylinder and back to the pump, and a control valve interposed in the conduits between said oil pump and said cylinder for regulating the flow of fluid to the cylinder, means for retracting said bloom arms inside the truck body upon closing its doors, and means operable upon closing a door for holding the adjacent lifting cable end stationary.

3. An article-lifting :device adapted to be installed in a truck body including a floor, comprising a pair of laterally-spaced crane boom arms located adjacent opposite sides of said body above said floor, means mounting said arms for lateral pivotal movement to and from positions laterally inwardly of and laterally outwardly of said body and floor, a piston and piston shaft carried by said body for reciprocation longitudinally thereof between said arms, said shaft including a free end, a lifting cable including a pair of free ends and an intermediate portion, article-engaging means carried by said free ends of said cable, said intermediate portion of said cable being slidably connected to said free end of said piston shaft, guides carried by said truck body and boom arms for guiding said free ends of said cable over said boom arms in lifting and lowering relation thereto upon reciprocation of said piston and shaft in opposite directions, and means for at times anchoring one free end of said cable.

4. An article-lifting device adapted to be installed in a truck body including a pair of opposed side doors adapted to close door openings and a floor, comprising a pair of laterally-spaced crane boom :arms located adjacent opposite sides of said body above said floor and adjacent said doors inwardly thereof, means mounting said arms for lateral pivotal movement to and from positions laterall inwardly of and laterally outwardly of said body and fioor through said door openings when the doors are open, spring means loading said boom arms for movement laterally outwardly of said body, a piston and piston shaft carried by said body for reciprocation longitudi nally thereof between said arms, said shaft including a free end, a lifting cable including a pair of free ends and an intermediate portion, article-engaging means carried by said free ends of said cable, said intermediate portion of said cable being slidably connected to said free end of said piston shaft, guides carried by said truck body and boom arms for guiding said free ends of said cable over said boom arms in lifting and lowering relation thereto upon reciprocation of said piston and shaft in opposite directions, and means carried by each door for anchoring said free ends of said cable when said doors are closed.

ELI J. ADAMS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 280,904 Boyer July 10, 1883 655,321 Anderson Aug. '7, 1900 1,291,746 Bradney et al Jan. 21, 1919 1,509,800 Vogel .Sept. 23, 1924 2,446,488 Pierce Aug. 3, 1948 

